Dazzle didn’t really like staying at school late. Most of the time it was because Ms. Cheerilee had given her detention for the day, and she couldn’t return home until she completed a tedious assignment. Probably because she knew of what mean things Dazzle and Silver could do to the Crusaders.
But now was different. Coco was with her, along with Florin and Montresor.
As they walked through the east doors, one of the ushers had stepped in front of them. “Participant names?”
“Napoleon Dynamite and Dazzle Tiara.” Napoleon said.
The usher swished the pen (probably checking their names off the list), smiled, and instructed, “Follow me.”
“We are on the first row!” Napoleon said while the rest of the school clamored about. It strained one’s voice to speak above the din of chatter. “Do you know what this means?”
“We are participants?” Dazzle teased.
He punched her in the shoulder. “You have no idea! First two rows are designated for the top ten!”
Considering their placement, Dazzle couldn’t argue with Napoleon’s logic. The usher placed them at the end of the first row. Dazzle glanced back at the audience and waved to Coco one she saw her. Bling had to tap her on the shoulder to get her attention. He pointed towards them and waved with Coco.
Up on the stage, Principal Bellows started to speak into the microphone. “Now that presentations are done, we’d like to announce the winners!”
Napoleon shifted nervously.
“We have had a rough week with the outbreak, but thankfully, we’ve been cleared to run this awards ceremony!” Principal Bellows. Out of the three schools we had Thirty-two projects!”
The audience stomped their hooves.
“We thank all of those who participated in the competition. We are especially proud of all those who have gone above and beyond their school work and taken the initiative to complete their projects!” Principal Bellows continued. “I could go on all night, but I will allow our three judges to take the stage to announce our winners!”
Principal Bellows took a step down to the stage right. Yep. Dazzle remembered that from her times helping Coco with the Theatre.
Three ponies, two mares, and a stallion took the stage. She recognized the last, as she previously spoke with him: Bastion Yorsets.
The mare in the middle stepped up to the microphone. “Good Evening Mane-hattan!”
The audience answered back eagerly with a convoluted “Good Evening!”
“You ready to hear who placed top three?” She asked.
The audience cheered.
“Woah! Let’s not get ahead of ourselves, Swift Final!” The other mare stepped up to the microphone. “We forgot to announce what the top three winners will receive!”
Bastion stepped forward. “While Swift Final and Critical Review are bickering, I’ll just say it! The top ten will receive a plaque engraved with their achievement and some commentary the judges have for it.
“The top three will also be accepted with full-ride scholarships to Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns!” Swift Final cut in. “We have a lot of names to talk about, should we get started?”
Fifth place had just been announced.
“I was impressed with how centered they were on safety!” Swift Final commented. “Admittedly, we’ve had our share of explosions in the labs of our school, so we need ponies emphasized on safety! Who knew that you could edit the elasticity of glass and brittle objects and do so without losing key chemical capabilities!”
Bastion took a step up to the stand.
Dazzle noticed Napoleon tense up. For good reason too. The judge that visited your project first gave the report. He really wanted to place at least third so he could score the scholarship. Now, so close, he could almost taste victory.
“Speaking of keeping things clean, our fourth-place spot goes to a Napoleon Dynamite and Dazzle Tiara!” Bastion started.
Napoleon and Dazzle stood up from their seats.
“Both team members demonstrated skill in working together to create a common item- soap! With an enchantment to insta-dry and a review of Meadowbrookian Alchemy, this goes over the importance of how something so simple yet so important to keep society healthy!” Bastion explained. “I recently visited with the great Doctor Fuse the head of the pioneer for the cure for Corrosion. He found it fascinating how something so simple as the second Meadowbrookian Law was forgotten in the hustle and bustle to find a cure. He resolved to focus on the Meadowbrookian Law. With this focus on simplicity, it’s no wonder this project placed top four!”
Swift Final stepped up again. “At our Third Place, we got Caramel Kisses and Celestial Swing!”
As both of them sat back down, Dazzle turned to Napoleon and asked. “Hey, you okay?”
Napoleon glanced at her with bittersweet smile. She recognized the façade, the feeling. He was trying his best to smile even though his hopes just got shattered. “I’ll be fine. We’ll talk afterwards.”
“For our first place, we got Dusty Mantle and Pink Sprinkles with their simplification of advanced Starswirlian arcanes! We are talking shields!” Critical Review announced. “Here’s a fun fact! In actuality, Bastion Yorsets purposely abstained his vote. Why? Because this is his nephew! But of course, even with that handicap on the vote, the we saw fit to award him with Gold! He truly earned it!”
Dusty and Pink bowed towards the audience. After applause, they took back their seats.
“Again, we thank all who have participated in the competition!” Principal Bellows said. “We advise after the ceremony is over to ride safely home! We look forward to next year’s competition! Good night Mane-hattan!”
Due to the lateness of the evening, everypony in the assembly was antsy about getting out and getting home. Dazzle and Napoleon waded through the crowds searching for Coco, Florin, and Montressor.
“Hey Napoleon? Is right now a good time?” Dazzle asked. She was nervous about having him open up, but she figured there was no better time than the present.
Napoleon turned to her and smiled― this time not a bittersweet one, but a genuine smile. Something changed. “Actually, very well. I had a moment of clarity!”
Dazzle and Napoleon exited through the doors. The dim light of caramel sky waned over the buildings, sheding the courtyard in just enough light to see ponies milling about.
“How so?” Dazzle asked.
“I realized what is truly important to me! My―”
“You did good, Napoleon! I’m so proud!” Florin said before she hugged him.
Dazzle hugged Coco, taking this a great opportunity to do so.
Bling carefully approached Napoleon. “How you feeling?” he asked.
Napoleon began, “I’m―”
“Pardon me, Mr. Dynamite?” A voice asked behind them.
Dazzle and Napoleon spun around. “Mr. Yorsets?”
“I don’t want to make this public. As such, I trust you can keep it private also.” He started. “Ms. Sprinkles has declined her offer for the full ride to CSGU. She’s planning to go to beauty school here in Mane-hattan.”
Napoleon’s jaw dropped. “You mean―?”
Bastion Yorsets reached into his coat pocket and held out an envelope to Napoleon. “By default, this goes to you now.”
Napoleon reached out to it carefully. Bastion pulled his hoof back. Napoleon’s smile faded for a second.
“I’m just playing with you.” Bastion said. “Don’t worry, take it!”
Napoleon took it from his hoof.
Bastion started, “In actuality, I picked you for my top vote in extraordinary form in magic. So call this nepotism, but the first day you were here, you helped my Nephew, Dusty through a lot of things. You welcomed him into the school. Even when you could see that his project could trump yours by a longshot, you offered a hoof to help because you could.”
“H-how did you know?” Napoleon said.
“Dusty told me what happened.” Bastion smiled. “So, here I extend the honor of saying, I welcome you to Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns. We need fillies and colts just like you in our school. After all, you are talking the Princess of Friendship coming from this school. We unicorns often forget that friendship is magic, and without friendship, magic doesn’t exist.”
Bastion saluted “I’d de needing to head off and catch my chariot. Los Pegasus Competition waits for nopony. With that, I bid you farewell!” He slipped into the crowd, giving a glance back to Napoleon. “I look forward to seeing you this upcoming semester!”
Without a second to spare, Napoleon tore open the Envelope and tears flooded into his eyes. “Dear Mr. Dynamite, we welcome you to Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns.” He read. “Please take the time to register. You will be accepted for a full-ride scholarship!”
Immediately, he leapt and hugged Dazzle. Dazzle froze at first, but hugged her friend back.
“Thank you, Dazzle! I couldn’t have done it without you!” Napoleon sniffled.